Future bright for Darling Downs solar farm proposal

A MAJOR milestone has been reached for a proposal to develop a large-scale solar farm on the Darling Downs.

Canadian Solar Australia's Oakey Solar Farm has been shortlisted for funding under the Australian Renewable Energy Agency's $100 million program to boost solar power generation in Australia.

The large-scale solar funding round is designed to bring down costs for renewable energy through the deployment of about 200 megawatts of large-scale solar projects across Australia, and uses a reverse auction process to identify the lowest cost projects.

The Oakey Solar Farm project, which aims to generate 25 megawatts, was assessed under a set of criteria that included the need to demonstrate its cost of energy was below the threshold levelised cost of $135 per MWh.

Federal Member for Groom Ian Macfarlane said the proposal demonstrated Australia's capacity to boost solar power generation through innovation.

"Australia has a natural advantage when it comes to solar and it's fantastic to see there is serious interest from industry in capitalising on this opportunity," Mr Macfarlane said.

"The overall quality of the proposals was very high and I am pleased to see a major player in the renewables sector aiming to capitalise on our abundant solar resources."

Canadian Solar Australia's Oakey Solar Farm proposal will now proceed to the full application stage, with submissions due by 15 June this year.

Fast facts

ARENA's $100 million large-scale solar photovoltaic funding round was announced on September 9.

The expression of interest phase attracted strong interest

Of the 77 eligible EOIs, 22 high merit projects were selected to proceed to the full application stage

Origin Energy Limited's Darling Downs Solar Farm at Dalby, which is slated to create 106.8MWh of power, is also on the shortlist.

Minister for Energy, Biofuels and Water Supply Mark Bailey said: "Queensland has attracted nearly half of the 22 projects shortlisted by ARENA from across Australia, clearly showing that our sunshine-soaked state is becoming a destination of choice for the development of large-scale solar energy projects," Mr Bailey said.

Mr Bailey said the construction and operation of large-scale solar generation projects would encourage local and international investment, create jobs and help combat climate change by lowering carbon emissions.